Stormers’ top Boks to get longer break

The Bok trio, who will be playing for the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham next weekend, will be given until January to rest and recuperate.

'Springbok touring squad members like Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Siya Kolisi, Louis Schreuder and Gio Aplon will miss the first week of pre-season training, but will join us from week two onwards, but others like Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen and Jean de Villiers will rejoin us in January only – along with [Argentine lock] Manuel Carizza,' said Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.

The Stormers will start their pre-season preparations next Monday.

'We will announce our initial pre-season training squad later this week, but we will, as always, invite a few younger players – from this year’s successful U21 group and next year’s WP Rugby Institute intake – to join our [pre-season] preparations,' added Coetzee.

The pre-season squad's last day of training will be on 20 December, before they reconvene on 7 January. A squad of players will also travel to Hermanus later in January for the annual Stormers pre-season camp.

The Stormers will play three friendlies: against the Bulls (Polokwane), Kings (PE) and Boland (TBC), on 1, 7 and 15 February respectively, ahead of next year's Super Rugby tournament.